Due to you being a holder of a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) you probably know that moving violation citations are taken seriously and usually have more points assigned to them than if you held a regular passenger driver's license.

For example, in California a violation received in a commercial vehicle carries one and one-half times the point count so if you are licensed there instead of receiving the normal 1 point for disobeying a traffic sign it would 1.5 points on your CDL.

If you get too many points as a Commercial Driver you will lose your privilege to drive. In California you are considered a negligent operator of a commercial motor vehicle when your driving record shows the following point counts:

• 4 points in 12 months
• 6 points in 24 months
• 8 points in 36 months

You may be entitled to a higher point count (6, 8, or 10 points) if you request and appear for a hearing and if 4, 6, or 8 points were not obtained in a Class C vehicle.

In Florida if you have a CDL and 3 traffic violations within 3 years you are disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for 120 days. Two traffic violations within 3 years is a 60 day suspension. After either suspension period you have to pay a fee to restore your CDL.

Because you are a CDL holder you have more federal and state rules to follow when you receive a conviction for a traffic violation. This includes being required to notify your employer within 30 days of a conviction for any traffic violation (except parking) regardless of what type of motor vehicle you were driving when the violation occurred.

Also you must notify the DMV of the state of which you are licensed within 30 days if you are convicted in any other state of any traffic violation (except parking) regardless of what type of motor vehicle you were driving when the violation occurred.

How this will citation for failure to stop at the stop sign will affect your commercial driver's license in your home state will depend upon how many points they assign and how seriously they take the offense. As shown above the points in California were 1.5 while failure to stop in Tennessee is 4 points for a CDL motorist.

To find out what points and penalties you might receive for your specific state contact the local Department of Motor Vehicles.